The present invention relates to an implantable tissue lifting and fixation device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a temporal brow lifting device, which is used to lift and fix the brows at an elevated position in a brow lifting surgery and similar surgical procedures. The temporal brow lifting device of the present invention is comprised of a bio-resorbable supportive backing having a curvilinear end region and a tail end region. The curvilinear end region comprises a plurality of attachment points to facilitate brow-lift, and the tail end region having a plurality of cavities to secure the device at the desired position.
The brow lift is a basic procedure for rejuvenating the upper portion of a patient's face. The brow lift procedure may be used to elevate the eyebrows, remove or lessen forehead wrinkles, reduce frown lines, smooth the nasion and elevate the nasal tip. Various surgical approaches are available for the brow lift, including the direct brow lift, mid forehead lift, pretrichial lift, temporal lift, coronal lift, and endoscopic lift.
In carrying out the brow lift surgery, once the surgeon has moved the brow to a superior position, the soft tissue must be suspended in that position for a sufficient time to allow healing to occur. Conventionally, external means, such as screws and staples, have been used to suspend the soft tissue in place. These devices may leave the patient susceptible to infections, require a great deal of bandaging, and leave extensive scars. Internal means, such as surgical pins or posts, also have been applied however these devices require the surgeon to reopen the skin to remove them. Further, tissue fixation methods that do not a require reopening of the patient's skin to remove fixation devices have been attempted, such as deployment of resorbable fixation devices. An ideal resorbable fixation device should have the ability to adjust the timing for the release of the fixation device after implantation in response to individual healing rates.
The temporal brow lift also known as lateral lift or lateral brow lift is a more lateral-diagonal lift. The temporal lift can relieve folds and small wrinkles in the forehead and can also lift the cheek skin. Therefore, it is desirable to use a temporal brow lifting procedure in combination with a bio-resorbable implant to achieve the desired brow lifting effects.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,814, issued to Lorenc, describes a resorbable surgical appliance for a mid-forehead brow lifting surgical procedure in order to support soft tissue at a superior position. Lorenc describes the surgical appliance is comprised of a coupling member that connects the surgical appliance to the bone or hard tissue and a gripping member(s) to grip or retain the soft tissue at the superior position. However, the head of such screws or tacks and the gripping member of such appliances are bulky, making a prominent protrusion on the bone surface. Moreover, the surgical procedure requires drilling of the surgical appliance in the bone or skull of the patient.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,410, issued to T. Pertti, et al., describes a bioabsorbable surgical implant for use in mid-forehead brow lifting procedure, to support soft tissue at a superior position in the body. The surgical implant includes a shaft that connects the implant to a bone or hard tissue and a head secured to the shaft. The head of the implant has a concave lower surface so that a suture (or sutures) can easily be wound around the shaft below the head and locked to this position by tightening the head against bone or hard tissue and by pushing or turning the shaft into the bone or hard tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,485,503, issued to J. Daniel, et al., describes an implantable tissue approximation device for mid-forehead brow lifting surgical procedure. The device comprises of attachment points and a post in order to secure the device into the cranium of the patient. The scalp tissue to be lifted may be set on a brow lift device via attachment points, and the device may then be secured to a patient's cranium. The brow lifting device requires drilling of skull or cranium in order to secure the device.
Conventionally, suture fixation is used in order to secure the temporal brow in an elevated position following temporal brow-plasty. Suture fixation, generally, provides a single vector of pull which can result in an unnatural, tented appearance to the temporal brow. Moreover, suture fixation can be cumbersome and may require several attempts by the surgeon to achieve bilateral symmetry.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a low profile, bio-resorbable tissue lifting and fixation device to be used in a temporal brow lifting surgery and similar surgical procedures. Further, there is a need to develop a tissue lifting and fixation device that can generate a multi-vector pull on a tissue to achieve a better cosmetic appearance.